[University of Zeltiva] A New Aspiration [Tabarnac]

[Iasc]

58th of Winter 510 AV

“Professor Oslie of the magical studies department”, Iasc murmured to himself as he wandered down the long corridor. He was gritting his teeth nervously as he walked, making slow progress. He looked at every door he passed, reading each number carefully to make sure he didn’t accidentally miss the room. He had spent his first two days in Zeltiva trying to understand the sheet he had in front of him. He was glad that the man’s handwriting was so good as it made the information a little easier to comprehend, although it was still quite confusing to the young scholar, smart as he proclaimed to be.

When he had made his way to the right building he isolated Professor Oslie’s name on the sheet and went in search of the desired office. He was glad that he had arrived early as he got horribly lost in the building and it took him quite a while to find his way around. He passed many people in the many corridors he went through but refused to make eye contact with any of them even though he knew that they were looking at him and judging him. He merely focused his eyes on the ground in front of him and didn’t slow his fast pace until he was sure he was out of their sight.

Iasc himself began to wonder what he was doing here. He knew nothing about magic nor did he even know if he had the ability to do magic. The only reason he was here was because of a blind man’s amazing ability to see. Was that enough? Was this nothing but an idea that he had romanticised in his mind to the point where he felt that he needed to do it. Whatever the reasons, or lack of them, for doing this, he said that he would do it and if there was one thing he hated it was failure. He would have to at least try.

Finally he arrived at the correct door. The sign on the front read ‘Professor Oslie’s Office’. At least he had the right place. He wasn’t sure what time it was when he reached the office. If he did not get lost he would have been early he knew, but he did get lost and wasn’t sure if it had taken him long enough to find the office that he was indeed late. Regardless, he gave two loud knocks on the door and waited patiently, determined to do his best whatever happened.

[Tabarnac]

"Come i-in," came a sing-song voice. And when he did, the door opened in on an office that was at once chaotic and calming, as if a very, very feminine lady had gone a little cracked and decided it was time to decorate. The windows were shut and the hearth burning in order to keep the bonesnapper winds from Mathews Bay from, well, freezing and snapping the bones. But the warm office might well have been summer. Caged birds were singing or chirping to each other, one cage left open meant that birds were chattering in the rafters, too. The walls were covered with color, whether mural, silk hanging, or tapestry. Crystals dangled in chains in front of the mirror, twinkling rainbows out of the dim winter light. Prisms and color charts laid on the white credenza where sat none other than Professor Palmyra Oslie. Her hair was gray-shot blond, and it would have been a straw stack if she hadn't carefully bound it back with colorful ribbons tied, at least, in a mature way. Her blue eyes were kind, if a bit distracted, and her lips were pursed as she considered Iasc. One got the impression of a mother who saw through all her children's little pranks, an archetype of 'Mother' before a child realized she wasn't omniscient. "Ohhh," she said in an appreciative alto. "Look at you. What a pattern... Don't worry, lovey. You are exactly where you are meant to be, at least for now. Would you like some tea? Close the door and have a seat."

[Iasc]

Iasc made his way into the room cautiously. The instant that he stepped inside the office he was hit by a wave of heat. He hated being too hot. That is why he preferred winter; it was nice and cold. The big brown robe that he was wearing didn’t help things. When he adjusted, to as much an extent that he could, to the temperature he noticed the surrealism of the professor’s office. Outside the closed window Iasc saw the winter winds howl. A part of him wished they were outside in order to escape the damned heat which was beginning to cause him quite a bit of discomfort.

He looked around the room. The colours jumped off the walls at him, feminine in their nature, yet strangely awe inspiring. He heard the cry of the birds who loitered on the rafters, occasionally taking flight only to return to where they had been again. There was a certain magic around the room that seemed to emanate from the elderly looking woman behind the desk. When Iasc’s eyes fell on her a calming, comforting feeling washed over him, somewhat diminishing his nervousness. Iasc smiled politely and closed the door behind him as Professor Oslie, he assumed this was who she was as she never introduced herself, welcomed him. When offered a seat he took it but not before moving it just slightly away from the fire that was burning brightly. “No thank you”, he said in response to her question. “I don’t drink tea.” He spoke very shyly, just about able to make out his his own voice. He cleared his throat. “My name is Iasc”, he said, awkwardly breaking the silence and offering the professor his hand to shake. Unsure of what to do or say next he let them descend into silence again.

[Tabarnac]

It didn't take long for her to suss out what he was feeling. He was rather an open book for so practiced an Aurist as she, and him being so young. She immediately stood up to crack the window, allowing cold air in to mitigate the heat, though she quickly through a natty magenta shawl over her shoulders to compensate. Different strokes for different folks, she always said. "Ah, yes, yes, Iasc, Iasc, Iasc." She said his name like a mnemonic, a little device for the scatterbrained to remember things. She shook his hand and gently urged him into the overstuffed armchair, a rather comfortable spot for him. Auristics being such a foundational discipline, she often got the young ones and the newcomers, and they were fortunate she was so welcoming. "I'm Professor Palmyra Oslie, but you needn't stand on formality... unless the Dean is looking in, dear fellow. You can call me Palmyra if you're bold, or Professor if that suits you rather. Anyway," she continued, bustling about the tea things for herself anyway, "you may want to develop a taste for certain teas. There are teas that will ease the headaches of mild overgiving, and teas that will dampen your Auristic sense when you can't keep it under control. There are teas to help one sleep and teas to wake one up. Of course, if you don't like it..." She shrugged good naturedly and set a little plate of cookies in front of him before sitting down at her end of the desk, putting on a pair of delicate spectacles and peering at a piece of paper that told her rather less than his own aura did, but details and procedures were details and procedures, she always said, at least since she became a professor with all the bureaucratic red tape of academia. "Well, we have a bit of time to get to know one another. Why don't you tell me what brings you to Zeltiva, the University, and my office." Her smile was so honest and welcoming, one felt rather more comfortable talking to her than with a stranger off the street, but there were the recalcitrant few who took time to open up. Fortunately she was patient.

[Iasc]

Iasc smiled as he felt the cool draft on his neck. He welcomed the feeling and silently thanked Palmyra for opening the window. He had no doubt that she did this as a result of ‘seeing’ or ‘feeling’ his aura. It occurred to him that maybe he should feel violated in some way, as if someone had intruded on him in a private moment or somehow managed to steal his thoughts. However, he felt no such violation. Whatever had happened, it did not affect him at all. Had he not known that she was an aurist he would have been none the wiser to what had just happened. If he had, however, claimed that she had just intruded on his own privacy he would have no doubt that he would have to brand himself a hypocrite for wishing to learn how to do it himself, and, while Iasc was many things, he was not a hypocrite.

His chain of thought broke when he saw her put a shawl around her shoulders. He felt a twinge of guilt pass through him. He didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable in her own office, even if was just to stay on her good side and nothing else, although it was more than that he knew. “You don’t have to open the window just for me”, he said. “It’s your office. You deserve to be comfortable in it.” He felt she wouldn’t listen to him but it had to be said anyway.

When offered to sit down Iasc kindly obliged the woman and took a seat in the big armchair, sinking into it immediately. “I may have some tea later if what you say is true”, he said with chuckle. “It could be useful some day.” He did, however, take a cookie as they were on offer.

“Well”, Iasc said, sitting forward while preparing to respond to her inquiry. He did not want to divulge too much information about his life. The bare minimum will do he decided. “I have lived all my life in Syliras”, he proceeded. “I have always wished come to Zeltiva to further my academic career. At the start of fall I came into contact wit a certain blind man named Stitch. Anyway, long story short, he managed to perceive the world through the use of auristics. I don’t know much about it but I still find it quite fascinating and am here to learn about it, among other disciplines. As for why I am in your office, well this is where I was sent when I registered.”

Iasc matched her smile as he sat back in the armchair continuing to eat the cookie. He was very happy that he had been sent to Palmyra’s office for his auristics training. There was something so approachable about her but he wasn’t quite able to put his finger on it as of yet.

[Tabarnac]

"Of course I do," she clucked. "If I didn't let in a draught now and again, I'd pass out in the sauna-like environment I like to keep during the winter months. I'll be comfortable with my shawl and... oh, the tea." She took off her spectacles, set them aside, and went over to pour herself a cup now it was steeped and sat in a not-quite-matching armchair next to Iasc in a much less formal set up than before. Not that she was very formal even sitting behind her desk. "Those are lavender sugar cookies," she told him. "Lavender, also known as elf leaf or spikenard, purifies the spirit among other healing properties. It can also... hm, help with amorous issues, but..." She laughed, her voice going dulcet and cheeks coloring. "I am not attempting to seduce you, not to worry, not to worry. I'm a bit of an amateur herbalist, but you aren't here for that." After listening to his reasons, she nodded, accepting them at face value, or appearing to do so. "Have you had any natural auristic experiences or shall we be starting at the very beginning?" she asked. It was not a judgment, of course. It seemed to be luck of the draw who maintained the ability from early childhood rather than some intrinsic strength in a person.

[Iasc]

Iasc looked like a little child being educated by a mother-like figure as he sat there eating his cookie. If he was honest herbalism didn’t interest him that much, he had never had much time to consider it, but he enjoyed listening to Professor Oslie speak of it. That was until she began to mention some of its more aphrodisiac related qualities. Upon her saying “help with amorous issues” a piece of cookie got lodged in his throat and it took him a second to dislodge it. He could feel his cheeks going red as he looked back at Professor Oslie. He had always found talking about such subjects awkward with those older than himself.

“Natural auristic experiences”, he mused to himself, after his embarrassing moment. He took a second to think. Even though she wasn’t judging him, there way no that he could tell for certain, not yet anyway. Soon enough he would have that ability he hoped.
He considered for a moment inventing a story for her. He had always considered himself to have a good imagination and this would be a good place to test that theory out. He could come up with some fable of how he caught occasional glimpses of peoples hidden emotions. It would probably be more difficult than that as she would be able to see right through him.
“I think it would be best to start at the beginning”, he finally answered.

[Tabarnac]

"Not to worry," she said, getting him a glass of water for his choking problem, "most students lose their virginity at some point during their studies. A healthy sex life helps prevent stress and other things from building up and boiling over." A mother figure, perhaps, but an earthy one was she. It probably didn't help that she was patting his back while saying this, but, as she said, she was not trying to seduce him. "Unless you're that Hadrian Aelius boy, anyway." She sat back down, nodding at his elaboration. "Well, I suppose I can run you through my tried and true method. It's a place to start, though everything becomes subjective when you really get into it. But it will give us a common vocabulary to start with before you grow wings and fly away from me."

[Iasc]

Iasc took the water gratefully but didn’t take a sip of it for a few moments. Never before had he had such an explicit a conversation as this and the way that she was touching his back didn’t help in the slightest. It’s true that he had thought about these things before but his lack of sexual exploits didn’t bother him. He felt that such things were an unnecessary distraction from his true vocation. However, even if he didn’t know it yet, this view could change if he did become involved in an intimate relationship of some sort.
His lack of experience aside, in that office facing Professor Palmyra Oslie, he was not becoming any more comfortable with the conversation that they were having. All he could do was try and take his mind off it. First, however, he downed half the glass of water, feeling the cool liquid run refreshingly down his body just inside his chest.

When she mentioned the name it gave him a chance to take his mind off their recent discussion. “Hadrian Aelius”, he thought to himself. “I know that I’ve heard that name before.” He tried to remember where he had heard it but couldn’t quite place it. All he knew was that it must have been in Syliras as he knew he had not discovered the name since his arrival to Zeltiva. He tucked the name away in his mind in case it would come useful later.

He nodded assent to the plan, ready for Professor Oslie to proceed with their class.

[Tabarnac]

"Just be careful that in your intellectual studies you don't completely abandon your body. Remember that it houses your spirit and your mind, and the power comes from there as well." She paused, smiling a self-deprecating smile as she sat back down. "I still have to remind myself of things like that from time to time. "All right." She settled into her chair and took up her tea again. "I'm going to take you through a guided meditation and I want you to relax your body, relax your mind, and just let things follow my voice. Don't worry about doing it wrong or other such nonsense. Such self-judgment will stand in the way of any doors we open inside you. If any strange emotions well up out of nowhere, observe them but do not let them bother you. "Bunch up your toes, tense your feet, and let them go. Tense up your calves, hold the tension, then let it go." She worked her way up his body until his face was scrunched up comically, although, heroically, she did not laugh at him. When the last of his tension melted away, he would have one tool to help him nudge his body toward relaxation. "Let your eyelids droop a bit. You needn't hold them wide open to see. Try not to focus on any one thing, but allow your focus to soften and spread, widening your field of vision without attaching undue importance upon anything in particular. "If you see movement that shouldn't be there, accept it but do not focus upon it." Her voice all this time was sonorous and soothing, and they had been at this for several minutes already. But if he started to see anything, it was likely closest to Palmyra herself, whose aura was bright and complex with years of higher association with the djed than the average person. Besides, she was exerting some control over her own aura, allowing it to flare up and be seen by any who might be looking. She didn't even touch on light and energy yet, because most people came slow to true Vision, and if this didn't work, she had several other tricks up her sleeves.